


I want you to stay (but you have to leave)

by Ofibooks



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/F, Hosie, josie goes into hope's mind, josie sees hope's trauma, kind of like the red door but not really, what i think part of 3x01 should've been like
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 16:01:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30024261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ofibooks/pseuds/Ofibooks
Summary: “Which means that in order to wake Hope up I have to go inside of her mind and get her to recognize and follow me out of the memory she’s hidden in,” Josie added.“Wouldn’t it be better if Freya was the one going in?” Alaric asked. “After all, she’s her aunt and has a deeper connection with Hope.”“It would, but we don’t know for how long we’ll have to keep the spell going, and I am the only one with enough power to maintain it. Plus, it would take us too long to teach the spell to someone who doesn’t need to absorb magic from others. No offense.”“None taken,” Josie assured the older witch. “I agree with you. Even if I had my magic back I would need to be siphoning from someone for who knows how long. It’s decided, dad. She went into my mind to save me, going into hers to save her is the least I can do.”orOne week after defeating Dark Josie, Hope is still unconscious, so Josie decides to dive into her friend's mind to wake her up.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson & Josie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 8
Kudos: 125





	I want you to stay (but you have to leave)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a fic in English (which isn't my first language), so I apologize for any mistakes.
> 
> Some scenes from The Originals in which Hope wants to unalive herself are shown, so I guess this is the trigger warning just in case

“We’ve done it before, with Elijah, but his body had died. She’s still alive.”

It had been a week since Josie had defeated her dark counterpart. One week since Hope turned into stone inside her mind. One week since Josie had woken up and Hope hadn’t.

Blaming herself for her friend’s condition, the siphoner had decided to ignore her father’s orders and had contacted Freya for help.

After a few days sending magic notes to one another and astral projecting to be able to speak face to face, Freya had arrived at the school to wake her niece up.

“How do you know it will work?” Alaric asked.

“Josie told me that she… the other Josie trapped Hope by turning her into stone,” explained the Mikaelson witch. “Various books mention how when someone gets trapped inside of someone else's mind, they are actually trapped inside of their own mind.”

“Which means that in order to wake Hope up I have to go inside of her mind and get her to recognize and follow me out of the memory she’s hidden in,” Josie added.

“Wouldn’t it be better if Freya was the one going in?” Alaric asked. “After all, she’s her aunt and has a deeper connection with Hope.”

“It would, but we don’t know for how long we’ll have to keep the spell going, and I am the only one with enough power to maintain it. Plus, it would take us too long to teach the spell to someone who doesn’t need to absorb magic from others. No offense.”

“None taken,” Josie assured the older witch. “I agree with you. Even with my magic back, I would need to be constantly siphoning from someone for who knows how long. It’s decided, dad. She went into my mind to save me, going into hers to save her is the least I can do.”

*****

“I’m ready.” Josie said as she walked into the old mill.

“Remember that I won’t be able to keep the spell going forever, so you have to be quick.” the Mikaelson witch answered.

The siphoner lied in the middle of the circle Freya had drawn and took Hope’s hand, who was lying next to her, into hers. 

When Freya started reciting the spell, Josie closed her eyes and, when she opened them again, she was standing in the white hall Freya had described.

She started walking and realized that there were different drawings in every door: a cross, the Mikaelson 'M' from Hope’s necklace, a flower… she stopped in front of the door with a flower and walked into the memory.

Josie found herself in the backyard of a house in the middle of the woods. She had never been there, but she heard a little girl talking, so she decided to follow her. Just as she was about to get where the voice came from, she heard a man talking and recognized his voice.

“You, love, are the daughter of Klaus Mikaelson,” he said. “You are going to be the greatest witch the world has ever seen. And nothing will scare you.”

“I know what you are, you know?” the girl, who Josie recognized as Hope, said. “The strongest in the world, strong enough to keep all the bad things away.”

“What bad things?”

“Just bad guys, monsters, people who are mean, selfish, angry...”

“ _ Nothing _ is going to harm my little girl. Nothing will even get close. You are all that matters to me.”

Without realizing it, Josie was smiling. That father-daughter interaction was too sweet and adorable not to smile. She then remembered why she was there and tried to catch Hope’s attention, but the young tribrid didn’t see her, so she decided to go to another memory.

Back in the white hall, she walked a few meters and walked inside a door with a droplet.

She suddenly was in front of the same seven year old Hope, but this time she was with Hayley in what Josie thought was the Mikaelson compound in New Orleans.

“I don’t want to,” Hope said.

“Are you scared it’s gonna hurt?” her mother asked as she kneeled in front of her.

“I’m scared if I do this, you’re gonna pick a fight. And the Hollow, she can hurt you.”

“I know you’re scared. I wish we didn’t have to have this conversation. When I was your age, I had to deal with a lot of things that I didn’t want to deal with either. I didn’t want that for you, but here we are,” Hayley explained “The thing is, sometimes you have to do things that you don’t want to do because you’re the only one that can do them.”

“Like you.”

“Like me.”

“Okay.” 

“Huh, that explains a lot about you,” Josie murmured.

As if she had heard her, Hope looked in her direction, but she quickly went back to looking at Hayley. 

Seeing as this Hope wasn’t going to be of any help, Josie decided to go to another memory.

The next door she went through took her to a familiar place. She was in one of the school corridors, right in front of Hope’s dorm room.

She walked into the room and saw the tribrid lying on her bed with Freya sitting in front of her. Suddenly, Hope woke up.

“Mom? Mom?!”

“Hope, I’m here,” Freya said, but the tribrid cut her off.

“What happened? Where is she?”

“Breathe. You are safe now.”

“Where’s my mom?!”

“ _ Oh no, _ ” Josie thought. She remembered that day.

Freya sat down next to her and, after a few seconds of silence, she whispered, “She’s gone”

“No. No. No. No. No.”

“ _ No. _ ” Josie thought as she left the memory without even trying to reach Hope. It was too painful.

She remembered how that day she was going to one of her classes through that hallway when the lights started flickering and she stopped to see what was going on. Then, she heard Hope yelling, crying and calling out for her mom between sobs. She still hated herself for doing nothing for Hope when everything happened.

But now wasn’t the right time to think about that. She now had the power to help her, so she needed to find her.

She opened another door and was now in the Mystic Falls High parking lot. Hope was leaning on a black car watching a man in a suit talk with some students.

“Hope,” she called out trying to catch her attention. The tribrid looked at her. “Hope, I’m here.”

“You know your father would kill me if he knew I let you do that?” the man in the suit, who Josie recognized as Elijah Mikaelson, said walking towards Hope.

“I won’t tell.”

“Please don’t.”

“Hope,” Josie called out again.

“Let’s get back to the school, okay? I need to lay down.” Hope started walking to the drivers door.

“Hey. Don’t you give up on this fight,” Elijah told her.

“It’s too late, Elijah, okay? I can feel it. You should just tell my dad to stop looking for a Hail Mary. He’s gone through enough torment.”

“You are the reason that his life of torment has not been in vane. Now, if you are not gonna fight for yourself, you will fight for him.”

“I don’t wanna fight anymore. I can’t save my dad, okay? I’m not a saviour. If anything I’m a murderer.”

“Don’t say that,” Josie murmured.

“Listen to me. The man in the church was not your fault.”

“I’m talking about my mom!”

“Your mother was not your fault! If anything, it was mine, so you blame me. ”

“Guess what? I’ve tried. No matter how I look at it, it’s my responsibility. Roman and his mom were afraid of  _ me _ .  _ I _ was the one who kidnapped her in the first place.  _ I _ left her to be taken.”

“This family needs you.  _ We  _ need you. And you are going to survive.”

“Why? Why? I’ve spent my entire life trying to get our family back together and if anything I ruined it, okay? I broke it. So please, just let me go because I’m tired. I’m  _ so  _ tired and if anything I just want my mom. I just want my mom.”

“Hope...” Josie whispered not being able to handle seeing her friend in so much pain.

Before she could try to get to her again, Hope passed out, forcing her to leave the memory.

Almost without looking where she was going, Josie walked into another memory.

“I’ve only just found out how dangerous this is. I could kill you!” she heard Klaus say.

“Then let me die!” Hope yelled at her dad. “My mom is  _ dead _ . She’s dead and it’s my fault. And I need more than some half version of you.” Josie’s heart broke into a thousand pieces as soon as those words left Hope’s mouth. “I can’t do this, dad. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t live like this. I don't wanna live like this anymore.”

“Please don’t say that,” Klaus and Josie said at the same time.

“You need to go. Just go.” 

With a flick of her wrist, Hope made her father disappear and, at the same time, she kicked Josie out of the memory.

Once again in the hall, the siphoner witch sat on the floor and hid her head between her knees.

She knew that hope had gone through a lot, but she didn't know how much it had been.

After a minute or two in that position, she stood up, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Come on, Josie, you have to help her,” she said to herself.

She walked to the next door and opened it.

This time she was at the school dock at night. Hope was sitting next to Landon’s hologram.

“I thought I was over losing my parents, but I don’t know, after the last couple of days and after seeing you, lying there in the woods, thinking that you were dead... Every time I lose someone, this voice in my head, it tells me ‘it’s your fault’, that I shouldn’t even technically exist, that I’m a cosmic mistake and… I don’t know. I guess I just wanted someone to think that I’m worth staying for.”

Josie stopped listening after that sentence. She knew exactly where Hope was, so she left that memory and went to find the memory Hope had decided to hide in.

After a few minutes walking through the hall, she found the door she was looking for and walked into the memory without a second thought.

Just like she thought, she found Hope with her, or at least the version of her she was then.

She remembered that moment perfectly and could almost quote it word by word.

It was the day after everyone had gotten their memories of Hope back and the tribrid had come into her room to ask her if it was okay with her if she came back to the school.

Josie had walked into the memory while they were reading Landon’s note in Penelope’s burn book.

Seeing herself hold Hope’s hand reminded her of how much that moment had hurt her at the same time that it brought her a feeling of relief she had never felt before.

“He made his choice,” said the Josie from the memory. “We can make our own. Landon or no Landon you belong here. I want you to stay.”

“But right now I need you to leave with me,” now it was the real Josie who was talking.

“Josie?” Hope asked, turning around to see her.

When she looked back to the other Josie, she was gone.

“You need to come home, Hope.” She extended her hand for the tribrid to take. “You just have to come with me.”

*****

Back in the real world, Freya was still reciting the spell while Alaric watched from afar.

Both girls woke up at the same time, letting go of each other’s hand as they struggled to catch their breath.

“Hope,” Freya said as she ran to her niece.

“We’ll leave you alone,” Alaric murmured while walking away with Josie.

*****

Two weeks later, Josie was watching the sunset at the dock by herself.

After Hope had woken up, she went to her room while the tribrid spent time with her aunt. She wanted to talk to her, but she knew she had to give her some time alone with Freya first.

A few hours later she asked her dad if he knew where Hope was, to which he answered that, after finding out about Landon’s death, she had left for New Orleans with her aunt with no return date.

So now, Josie was alone at the dock while Lizzie and MG were downtown with most of the students to make the most out of that Friday afternoon.

Though she couldn’t complain as she was the one who had decided to stay at the school and go to the dock by herself. 

For some reason she had always liked being there. She didn’t know if it was because it was quiet or because of the view, but it was definitely one of her favourite places to be.

“Hey,” a voice said next to her. She was so lost on her own thoughts that she hadn’t realized that someone was next to her.

“Hope,” she said, surprised to see her friend. “I didn’t know you were back.”

“No one does, I just got here.”

“How are you doing?”

“I’ve been better, but at least I’m not trapped in my own mind,” she joked.

“You know you don’t have to do that with me, right?”

“Do what?”

“Act like you’re okay when you’re actually broken to pieces and would rather still be in New Orleans.”

“If I wanted to be in New Orleans, why would I be here?”

“You wanna hear the truth?” Hope nodded “Because you’re too proud and don’t want to worry your family or be a burden to Freya and Keelin.”

“Am I that transparent?”

“No, but I know you.”

They half smiled at each other before enjoying each other's company in silence for a few minutes until Josie spoke again, “How’s Nik?”

“He’s the cutest kid I’ve ever seen. He’s smart like Keelin and has Freya’s temperament as well as Vincent’s cleverness.” Hope couldn’t help it but smile while talking about her little cousin. “How do you know about him?”

“I met him and Keelin when they got home and came to say hello during one of the astral projections I did with Freya to bring you back.”

Hope nodded as they, once again, drifted off into a comfortable silence while they watched the night come over them.

“I’m sorry for leaving without thanking you for saving me,” the tribrid finally said.

“You saved me from my own mind and got stuck inside yours in the process, it was the least I could do.”

“Can I ask you something?” Josie nodded. “What… what memories did you see?”

“I saw you with your dad when you were a kid, with your mom, with Elijah… I knew that you’ve gone through a lot, but I wasn’t aware of everything that you’ve lived.” They stayed in silence for a few seconds. “Can I ask you something too?”

“You want to know why I chose that memory, don’t you?” Josie nodded. “The day we did the spell to protect the sand clock I told you that that was the most normal I had felt all day, but the truth is that I always feel normal when I’m with you. And that day… I had spent the whole day being the strong tribrid who always saves the day and, even if it was just for five minutes, I needed to be just me, just Hope. And you make me feel that way. When I’m with you I can let my guard down because I know I’m safe and I don’t have to worry about anything. That’s why I chose that memory, because I felt safe and I knew I could relax knowing that you weren’t going anywhere.”

Silence took over once again, but they were okay with it because, even without words, they both knew what the other one wanted to say.

They stayed like that for a while, watching the sun slowly disappear, and at some point Hope rested her head on Josie’s shoulder.

“We should go eat dinner,” Josie whispered, not wanting to startle the tribrid.

“You’re right,” Hope answered. “Just five more minutes.”

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it!  
> You can also find me in Wattpad, where I have posted (in Spanish and under the same username) another one-shot, the original version of this one and I'm currently writting a longer Hosie story.


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